Piston ring



' 1 ;61 6A18 ,G. H.- BRAWNER El AL PISTON RING Filed April 28 1925 2 Sheet s-Sheet 2 a This inveiition' "relates to new'ancl useful Patented Dec. 14, 192 6.

itiairs TENT I 'GFFEQE; I

GEORGE HQBRAWITEBQANDLEWIS-Ml1MANLEYLOF nA LAs,vrEX s, assien oas To 'BRAWVMAN"PIST0N RING ,-CQMPANY,- OF BA L- s; TEXAS, A. CORrO-R'ATION or firnxas i "PISTON RING;

improvements in -hlistonjrii' g' The object ft e invention is to provide certain-improvements in type; of ring s'etfforth i 11 thel patent of "George Brawner; N01 1', 5 l8,179; dated 'Aug'ust l; V1925,

piston-rings Which' will, fit, truly circularcylin'd'e'r walls'asf Well tho'se are A' partiou'la'r object of the invention is*t"o provide an articulated ring in combination with an internal *ekpander' arranged to cir cumfer'entially a lj ust .the links of the ring to 1conform to the.'conto'iir of the cylinder Wal. y a v Anotherobject'of the"invention is to pro- Vicle *a' unit structure for the links, 'wlier'e'b'y each-linkmay be formed'of likeparts thus retlncing the 'co sto'f manufacture and" simplifying the construction.

.A further object '8 tojprovicle means whereby the 1 wear" on *the face of the ring is compensated by an automatic ustine'nt of h the expander- Another object of the invention is" to fprovide a ring comprisingaffloating annulus held in contact with the mus of the-cylinder by an internalie'silient expander Lengagi'ng the annulus at its lock joint and' being. sub stantially'free from contact at'other points,

whereby said annulus is'not only, heltlfuncler specification 'and 'by gre'terenoe to thea'ccom5 panying drawings, in whichan example-of theinventionisshOWnQ-andwherein; h Fig. 1- is'an'elevatio'no fifp S b q l pe our invention,

ig;2 is across seictional viewtaken on the line2 2 of Fig. 1,

F ig. f3 is an enlarged'cross=sectional View oi" the-11001: and-jointconnect'ion between I e A the ends of the rin ancl'the expander, The invention has particularly t'oolo' With Fig: 4 is an enlarged face view-'of' the 100 of another form in which be carried out,' t

{the invention {may the same,- 1 i P Fig. 8 is an enlarged cross se'ctional View takenon the line 8 8 of Fig. 6," h

Fig. 9 is an enlarged cross s'eoti'onal View 'of the annulus take on the line9f9 of 7 i Fig. 6,"and' a h Fig. 10 is a [perspective View or one of the link uIllits. v In the drawi gs; the t numeral 10 designatesa piston which maybe 'o'fjany suitable construction. In the upper end of the piston isfcutai circumferential groove ltlw-hijchis somewhat deeper than the usualring groove and therefore: the piston must have m'o'restook at this point than is usually cast in apiston. 7

Our improved ring comprises two concentrio members, an inner member for expander 12' and an outer ring'member 0r annulus 1 3 Theexpancler is preferably macle of spring steel, but any other metal suitable for the purpose may be used." The'exp'ander issur-v "rounded by the annulnsan'cl serves tohold the latter in" engagement 'withthe alls of the cylinder. This expander-is split into two semicircular members joined by'a hinge 14: at which point the expander has radial enlargeinents or bosses 1 5."

1 The annulus 13' which o'orrespontl's' tothe ordinary-piston ring is composed of rela- 'tlvely short l nks or segments which are made into male members 16 and; female members 17 in alternate jjrelation Each member is formed of tw'olink unitsvlfi, each unit comprising a centrallooss KFigs S and v s r a v a Fig. -5 i's-a' cros's'section of the hinge joint h I I Fig}? is an enlarged} View pagr-tly insec- 'tion' of the IOc'kand expander connectionot- 10) 19 between ears at the ends of the unit. Sockets 21 are formed in each end of the boss. For forming the male links 16 two units are placed with their backs together (Fig. 8) so that their cars 20 are in contact and form lugs at eachend.

In forming. the female member or link 17 the bosses of two units 18 are placed together 8), whereby'ears are spaced apart for'receiving the lugs of the male links. lVhen the links are assembled the ears of one engage in the sockets of the other. The ears 20 of the male links 16 are punched and receive short hinge pins 22. These pins have their ends seated in sumps 23 in the inner faces of the ears 20 of the femalelinks 17 and in concentricrelation In order to fasten the ends of faces and these grooves-extend into the link proper. The link 25 has a pair of spaced fingers 29 and a socket 230 on each side, the said fingers straddling the tongue and sliding into the grooves28, while the tongue is received between the fingers and in the sockets 30. This makes a leakproof joint and one which will permit the annulus to expand radially without becoming disengaged.

The male links 17each carry an inwardly extending boss 31 and thebosses 31 of the end links 17 are cut back on their adjacent faces to engage lugs 32 ontheends of the hinged members 12 of the expander. On the outer sides of the lugs cams 33 are formed and 'these ride on the inner faces of the lock links 25 and 26. The members 12 of the expander are formed on an-arc having a radius greater than that of the bottom of the groove 11 and consequently when said members are confined in said groove, their tendency is to spread and expand; Y

I The lugs 32 being between the bosses 31 will act to spread the annulus which by rea son of its lock joint may in turn enlarge circumferentially. Thus the links of the annulus will seatthemselves against the walls of the cylinder, irrespective of the contour of said walls, whether they are round or elliptical. The bosses 31 arefemployed'merely to keep'the articulated annulus from collapsing when placing the ring in the groove of the piston.

It is pointed out that when the expander spreads and displaces-the annulus into connot contact with the expander, thus the an nulus becomes floating and is under an even tension entirely around its circumference. The floating annulus under an even tension will cause an even wearing of the annulus. The cams 33 act to force the locklinks 25 and 26 outward and to compensate wear. It is apparent that the articulated annulus will readily conform itself to the irregular curves of a worn cylinder wall. The spreading of the expander will hold the annulus against maintain compression.

In Figs. 6 to 9 inclusive we have shown a preferable form of the invention. In these figures parts which have been previously described are indicated by the same numerals. Instead of providing bosses on thelinks 16 and 17, bosses34u are'provided on the expander for each link. Thelinks 25 and 26 are formed with bosses 35 and lugs 36 are provided on theends of the expander, which also has seats 37 for the ends of the bosses 35. This enables each link 16 and 17 to bemade ing lugs and bosses 35 aremore simple.

the cylinder walls at all points and thus Various changes in the size and shape of,

the differentparts, as well as modifications and alterations may bemade within the scope ofthe appended claims. 7

Whatwe claim, is:

1. A link unit for an artlculated piston ring comprising a body having one face in a single plane-and a central boss upon its op:

' posite face forming pivoting ears at the ends of the body.

2. A piston ring comprising an articulated annulus having interlocking links at its ends,

and a resilient expander withinthe annulus.

and engaging said links for spreading the same and contributing circumferential. movement to the annulus.

3. In a piston ring, an annulus formed of a plurality of relatively short links joined together as in a chain, and a hinged expander within the annulus having elements at its splitends for engaging and spreading the annulus circumferentially.

4. In a piston ring, an annulus formed of a plurality of relatively short links joined together as in a chain, a hinged expander within the annulus having elements at its split ends for engaging and spreading the annulus circumferentially, and means for preventing the annulus from colla sing.

5 In a piston ring, an annulus ormed of a plurality of relatively short links joined together as in a chain, and an expander composed oftwo resilient rnembers'hinged together and having engagement at their endswith the annulus.

6. 'In a piston ring, an annulus formed of a plurality of relatively short links joined together'as in a chain and having their ends tact with thecylinder walls the bosseswill connected by interlocking links provided no With bosses, and an expander Within the annulus composed of resilient members hinged a plurality of relatively short links joined 7 together as in a chain and'having their ends j I connected by interlocking links provided 10 with bosses, an expanderv Within the annulus the expander.

composed of resilient Inembers hinged to- 'gether and having lugs at its endsengaging between the bosses of the interlocking links, and other bosses between the annulus and In testimony whereof We aflix ourqsignatures.

GEORGE H. BRAWNER; LEWIS M. MANLEY.

fal- 

